Four more horses, all reportedly suffering from neglect, were seized recently by the Scott County Sheriff’s Department, and three of the group are now happily recovering at Second Chance Ranch.
“The three we were able to save are doing very well. We had to put down the mare that had cancer on February 1. She was really suffering,” advised Jenny McIntosh. Jenny and husband Joe operate Second Chance Ranch, using a lot of their own money to bring neglected animals back to health.
The couple got their first three four-footed patients last July. All of them thrived under the McIntoshes’ generous attention and good food, including heaping helpings of beet pulp. All of them were adopted out.
The latest group is also doing well, though the mare was “...just too far gone. Her jaw was grotesquely swollen and she could barely eat. We hate to give up on any animal, but she was in real pain,” Jenny explained.
Their owners have already been charged in Scott Superior Court with four counts of neglect of an invertebrate animal. Reportedly, the animals had had little food to see them through the winter, and there was little or no grass in their pen.
Some people have donated toward the cost of supporting these large but gentle creatures. Thanks to their dollars, the little paint stallion is up from 395 to 462 pounds. The female which had an open sore on her back, apparently caused by someone riding her without a blanket under the saddle, is nearly healed up. Jenny applied an age-old cure of brown sugar and iodine to reduce the open sore to a half-inch scar on her withers. She is now rated at a 2½ on a 1-to-10 scale by the state veterinarian, up from a 1 or 1½.
The other female, who now sports a healthier-looking red coat, is also a 2½.
The McIntoshes are needing used horse blankets to help those animals they take in on a “rescue” basis. They also need used halters. “They don’t need to be in good shape. We can repair nearly anything someone would like to give,” Jenny related. The blankets are needed to help the recovering animals reserve their body warmth.
Of course, the McIntoshes also need feed and salt and all the other supplies that go along with caring for horses.
People can still provide donations by either calling Jenny or Joe at 595-5072 or by contributing what they can at the Sheriff’s Department. It can be reached at 752-8400.
The public can also donate at J&C Feed, located at 631 East McClain Avenue in Scottsburg. The store is a couple of blocks east of the downtown square and can be contacted by calling 752-8898.